Stumbling in the Stars
by ArianeKeisha
Summary: When Aurora "Roxy" Greaves hacked into the Starfleet database on a dare, she had no idea what consequences awaited her. Nor could she have imagined that those consequences would later result in her enlistment and placement upon the U.S.S. Enterprise. One choice changed her entire life and left her stumbling in the aftermath of her decisions.
1. Bars

I blearily cracked my eyes open, the glaring rays of the early morning sun assaulting them. A groan escaped my lips as I raised a hand to shield my eyes, and a stale, acrid smell filled my nostrils. My nose wrinkled in disgust as I pushed off of the cot I found myself sleeping on, the haziness of first waking up slowly leaving me with the sinking realization of where I was sleeping.

"Great. It wasn't a dream." I threw myself back onto the cot, bouncing slightly on the hard mattress. My eyes raked across the concrete ceiling above my head. I pushed myself up once more to sit on the edge of the cot, taking in the bars covering the lone window of my cell. In frustration, I muttered to myself, "I'm such an idiot. What did I really think would happen?!"

"I don't blame you for asking yourself that for one second."

I turned abruptly, my hair whipping over my shoulder. I quickly looked at the man standing outside of my cell. He was clean-shaven, and his hair was beginning to show signs of greying. Though he was wearing civilian clothing, I could tell that he was no ordinary civilian. His posture and well-groomed appearance made it obvious that the person standing across from my cell door was, in fact, a member of Starfleet.

Another groan escaped me, and I closed my eyes, mentally wishing for this all to be a horrible nightmare. When I opened my eyes once more to see that he remained in his stoic position, the grave nature of my situation sank in fully. "So…. How much trouble am I in... exactly?"

"Honestly?" A slight smirk spread across his lips. "Hacking into the Starfleet database is a very serious crime." _I'm screwed. I'm going to prison and my life is officially over._ "Lucky for you, I was in the area. I was told to look over your files and bring you in for questioning." _Yep, this is it. I'm done for._ "I found something interesting in your files though. Your aptitude tests are astounding, and you have a reputation in this area. Even more surprisingly, I was told that they could barely detect your hack until it was nearly too late."

 _Why do law enforcement types always have to take so long to tell you what they have already decided?_ "Sir, I'm really sorry, but could you just get to the point? If you're going to take me to prison, just tell me already so I can stop deliberating it in my own head. You have clearly already made your decision."

His smirk turned into a grin, and a light shone in his eye. "Indeed I have. Firstly, I believe I should introduce myself. My name is Christopher Pike."

"Aurora Greaves, though I'm pretty sure you already knew that."

"Indeed I did. We have decided that you should be recruited into Starfleet, and make use of your talents."

 _Well, that's it. I'm going to_ pris _-Wait a minute. Did he just say Starfleet?_ I shook my head slightly to clear my thoughts. "Did you just say you decided to recruit me?" I raised an eyebrow slightly in confusion.

"Indeed I did. Or rather, your punishment is a mandatory 10 years working for Starfleet. That or prison." His grin continued to shine brightly on his face.

My jaw dropped slightly, and my eyes narrowed in response. _Yep. I am most definitely going to prison, and my life is over._

* * *

I tugged on the bottom hem of my bright red skirt, trying to self consciously cover up a bit more of my long legs with the short skirt of the mandatory uniform. I glanced in the full-length mirror of the motel room once more and was slightly shocked to see that the glaringly red uniform did not clash horribly with my crimson hair color. I quickly braided it over my shoulder into a single plait, determining that it would not be worth the fight of keeping my waist length waves out of my way on the shuttle ride to come.

I grabbed my duffel off of the bed, slinging it over my shoulder as I walked out of the motel that had been my home for the last couple of days. My shoulder slammed into the doorframe as I left, and I gingerly rubbed it while walking across the parking lot. Mumbling to myself for my clumsiness, I cautiously looked down each side of the road, making sure my path to the yard was clear. The closer I got to the shuttle which would carry me to Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, the more I returned to my thoughts of the prison which would soon be my home.

I tugged cautiously on the hem of my skirt once more as I noticed that it had hiked up slightly due to my long stride. I lifted my foot to step onto the ramp into the shuttle, but, in my distracted state, failed to lift my foot quite high enough, and ended up clipping the tip of my combat boots on the edge of the ramp and went reeling forward. A hand grabbed my forearm just in time, however, and I glanced up at him, a sheepish smile spread across my face.

I weaved through the aisles of the shuttle, watching my steps carefully as I made my way to the seat I had spotted earlier in the very back corner. I fished around in the depths of my duffle bag, yanking my headphones out and popping them into my ears. Determined to get as much sleep as possible and to hopefully forget my destination, if only momentarily, I nodded off before the shuttle even took off.

The jarring landing of the shuttle woke me though, and I peered out the window. Awe overcame me as I glanced at the Starfleet campus. _Maybe this prison won't be all that bad. Looks like it might be at least a little entertaining here._ I waited until everyone else had gotten off of the shuttle before wandering off myself, carefully twisting my headphone wires around my hand so they wouldn't be tangled later.

"Cadet Greaves, here is your room assignment. Your roommate should already be there. Tomorrow is orientation, and you will determine your class schedule after orientation with your advisor. Good luck, Cadet, and do try not to get into any more trouble while you're here."

"That's the problem, sir. Trouble has a habit of finding me." I grabbed the paper from Pike and took off in the direction of the dormitory, a lightness in my step that I had definitely not expected when first being informed of my recruitment to Starfleet Academy.

When I finally found my room assignment twenty minutes later, I was greeted by the harsh electronic beats of one of the newest songs to be released as I opened the door. The electronic music that was popular lately had never really pleased my ears, and I frowned, my nose wrinkling slightly as I fought to drown the music out. My side of the room was a bare white while the other side was filled with color. In the middle of the room, a girl was dancing wildly, her blonde hair whipping through the air as she threw her head this way and that.

"Ummm… Excuse me. I believe we're roommates now?" I chimed softly, not sure if I really wanted to interrupt the girl just yet or not.

The girl stopped, her hands flying to her hair to throw it out of her face. "Are you Aurora?"

"Yeah… And you are?"

"Oh, sorry! I'm Naira. I thought you would be blonde." She rushed over to shake my hand, but I simply stared at her hand.

"Why did you think that?" I looked into the blonde's ocean blue eyes.

"Well. Your name is Aurora, and it just made me think of that princess from the really old kids' movies. My grandmother loved making me watch those. She was blonde, so I just thought you would be."

I raised an eyebrow at the lengthy explanation. "Oh."

An awkward silence egged between us, and my new roommate broke it once more. "Oh, my! Look at the time! There's a welcome party in twenty minutes, so we should be heading out."

A grimace spread across my face, and I sat at the foot of my bed. "Parties really aren't my thing. I'll just stay here and unpack. You should go though."

Naira sat on her own bed across from me, a smile playing across her face. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to let you hide in this room your whole life. Get ready for a night out!" She hopped off her bed and bolted for the bathroom, a pile of clothes in her arms.

I closed my eyes and laid back on the bed with a thump, my hair fanning out lazily behind me. _Just what I need. A party-loving roommate to drag me into even more troublesome situations._ I rolled over and reached lazily into my bag, withdrawing the only dress I owned before throwing it on.

Fifteen minutes later, I was finishing applying the mascara to my full eyelashes, and Naira burst out of the bathroom, looking immaculate. "Let's go!" Naira cried, grasping my hand as I set the mascara on the desk and dragging me out of the room.

* * *

I slowly glanced around the crowded bar, cradling my chin in my left hand. The bar was close to campus, but still far enough that I was not entirely sure where we were. I swished my drink lazily with my right hand, and I was no longer trying to stop the frown from spreading across my face. Three drunkards had already approached me, and my patience was wearing thin.

I caught a glimpse of blonde hair flaring out wildly in the center of the dance floor, and my nose wrinkled in disgust as I quickly realized it belonged to my new roommate. _She and I could not be more different,_ I thought as I threw back the rest of my drink. When we arrived, Naira had bee-lined to the bartender, dragging me along behind her. She had ordered two shots for us, throwing hers back the moment it was set down. Two drinks in, and it was easy to tell that my roommate was a lightweight. She had stumbled out onto the dance floor and proceeded to dominate it with her drunken dance moves. I, however, swished my third drink in its glass, and fully regretted my decision to allow myself to be dragged here.

The seat in front of me was suddenly occupied and I groaned. His baby blue eyes sparkled with mischief, and his blond hair was messy, making me question whether he had already found someone to occupy his time earlier in the evening. He ordered himself a drink before turning to me, a grin spreading across his face. "You don't look like the type of girl to frequent these kinds of parties."

"Or any kind of party at all, really," was the dry response that slipped past my lips.

He laughed heartily, his grin becoming a genuine smile. "That isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm Jim, by the way." He reached a hand out to her in greeting.

I reached out to shake his hand, and I was a bit shocked at how at ease I felt with him despite his playboy attitude. Although I was cautious, I realized something made me inherently trust him. As I wrapped up my mental argument, I realized I was still awkwardly grasping his hand. "I'm Aurora."

We both let go of each other's hands, and his smile had never ceased. "Like Aurora Borealis?"

"Uhh. Yeah, I guess?"

"Aurora _Borealis_." I heard laughter erupting next to me, and glanced over to see Naira clutching her side. "I think we should call you 'Alice' from here on out," she squealed through peals of laughter.

Jim's grin seemed to take over his entire face it had grown so large. "I think that suits you perfectly! And, who," he wrapped an arm around Naira's shoulders as he peered into her eyes, "might you be? I hardly believed I could be blessed with the presence of two stunning beauties tonight." Naira giggled and snuggled into Jim's side. I rolled my eyes at the display.

"The name is Naira." She leaned her head on his shoulder, eyes meeting his own. "I had no idea this part would have as many attractive men as it does, or I would have come more prepared."

My eyes widened in shock at her callous remark. Jim leaned over to whisper into Naira's ear before grabbing his drink from the bar and sauntering off. Naira gripped my forearm lightly, whispering in my ear. "See you in the morning. Don't wait up." Giggles erupted from her mouth once again before she pushed herself away from the bar and teetered after him, unsteady on her feet.

"Naira, wait!" I yelled at her, trying to follow her into the crowd but she had already disappeared. My gut clenched at the thought of her going off drunk with a stranger, and I went outside, hoping to catch them before they left. Unfortunately, I couldn't find them outside and was left wandering hopelessly. "I guess I'll have to find my own way back to the dorms then…"

"Excuse me, miss," came a gruff voice from behind me. I glanced over my shoulders and was sucked into the chocolate gaze of the man who had snuck up behind me. "Would you happen to have seen my roommate? Blond, blue eyes, loves the ladies?"

"Your roommate's name wouldn't happen to be Jim, would it?"

His eyes widened a bit before he chuckled. "Yeah. That would be him. Did you see him recently? I'm lookin' forward to gettin' back to my bed, but I don't wanna just leave without tellin' him."

I grimaced a bit. "I saw him just as he and my roommate took off together. I was too late to stop them though."

"Ahh. Well," he scratched the back of his neck for a second. "I could walk you back to the dorms? You were one of the new arrivals today, right? I think I spotted you on the shuttle from Iowa."

"You were on the shuttle, too? I didn't really notice anyone," I laughed nervously.

"I was too terrified to notice much of anything, but I do remember seeing a flash of red hair that stuck out even in the sea of red uniforms. I can walk you back to your dorm if you like." He held his arm out to me, and I glanced at it nervously, unsure if I should trust this man I had literally just met. "I don't mean it like that, dammit," he growled, retracting his offered arm. "No woman should walk home alone. I only wanted to make sure you got there safely."

My heart lightened a bit at his words, and a smile tugged at the corners of my lips. "That actually sounds wonderful. Thank you for offering." He put his arm out once more, and I did not hesitate this time. As I wrapped my arm around his own, a spark traveled up from where we touched.

We walked in silence for a little while before I decided to break it. "So… Why were you afraid on the shuttle?" He glanced at me quickly, curiosity filling his eyes. "You mentioned that you didn't notice a lot when you got on the shuttle either because you were scared."

"Oh. I have aviophobia," he said with a slight grimace, turning his head away from me. "It's the fear of dyin' in somethin' that flies."

"That's understandable." _But why would he try to work in Starfleet if he's afraid of flying?_ I opened my mouth to ask him before changing my mind and deciding to respect his privacy. "Where are you from?"

"Georgia. Born and raised. You?" he questioned, finally looking at me again while we talked.

"Here and there. Never really stopped moving long enough to call anywhere home."

"Is that why you chose Starfleet? So you don't have to worry about keeping your feet on the ground anymore?" He lightly bumped his shoulder into mine, a joking grin on his face.

I looked away quickly though, grimacing as I thought of why Starfleet was now my career of choice. "Sure. Something like that."

He seemed to sense that our conversation had come to an abrupt end, and we continued walking to the dorms in silence. As we arrived, I turned to thank him. "Thank you again for walking me back to the dorms. What are you going to do since it seems your dorm is occupied for the night?"

"I'll just head to Medbay and sleep in one of the resting rooms. I have an extra uniform in my locker for emergencies anyways."

"Ahhh! So you're in the medical track? I'm in engineering. Maybe I'll see you around then."

He raised an eyebrow. "I… guess so? Are you planning on being sent to the Medbay often?"

I nervously twirled a strand of my hair. "I can be… pretty clumsy sometimes. Hopefully, I won't need to go to the Medbay often though!"

"Hopefully." His voice had a hint of something that I couldn't place in it. "Maybe I'll see you around some time then," he muttered before he quickly turned around and set off down the pathway.

I watched him for a moment before heading inside, thinking of the day to come.


	2. Officially a Cadet

My first semester flew by, and I passed my introductory Starfleet courses with flying colors. I had slowly become accustomed to life as a cadet, but I had even grown to like my life in Starfleet. Naira and I had become close friends despite our very different personalities, and I continued to have routine meetings with Captain Pike, who had become my advisor this semester. My progress towards an engineering track was well underway, and I was enjoying being able to put my computer and technological knowledge to a different use.

"Captain Pike is ready to see you now, Cadet Greaves," the secretary said while motioning to the door. I nodded to her, quickly moving into the office.

"Greaves, it's good to see you." He gestured to the seat across from him at the desk, and pulled out his PADD, typing quickly. "It looks like you completed quite a few of the introductory courses last semester, but you still have a few to complete. It is mandatory that you take two self-defense courses, so I would recommend enrolling in one this semester to be one of your less stressful classes."

" _Less_ stressful?" I groaned. "If I have to take it, I suppose I might as well get it out of the way."

Pike grinned, fully knowing of my clumsiness as he had probably read the reports of my accidents from the Medbay this last semester. I had tripped down a staircase one day, spraining my ankle and getting a concussion. "I have also arranged for you to be enrolled in the Introduction to Artificial Intelligence class this semester as well. Along with a couple of Engineering classes." He handed the PADD to me, allowing me a glance at the schedule he had arranged. "Are you sure you still want to take this heavy of a course load? We can easily spread some of these classes out to next year."

I scanned the schedule quickly, and a challenging smirk crossed my face. "This looks perfect. I should have no problems with this."

Pike shook his head slightly, a twinkle glinting in his eye. "Well then. I suppose this meeting is over. See you in a couple of months, cadet."

"Until then, sir." I returned the PADD to him before walking out of the office, a slight spring in my step.

* * *

My enthusiasm did not carry through the next day, however, when I was faced with my first self-defense class. I was already waiting for my clumsiness to prove itself detrimental during the course, and I dreaded the injuries to come. I threw my duffel bag onto the bench in front of my locker, yanking out the shorts and T-shirt cadets were told to wear for the course. After changing, I carefully folded my uniform and placed it in the locker, tossing my duffel bag in last minute.

Racing to the training room, I realized too late that the mats were a few inches higher off the ground and tripped, falling face first onto the mat and allowing a painful yelp to escape my lips. Laughter erupted from the other cadets as the commander teaching the course turned to look at me. "As I was saying - this course is designed to help you defend yourselves when the need arises. Cadet…?" he prompted, searching for my name.

"Greaves, sir," I supplied, rubbing my cheek as I limped into my place in the line of cadets.

"It would seem that Cadet Greaves will need to learn to defend herself against her own clumsiness." I grimaced, keeping my gaze down as I heard giggling throughout the room. "Alright, alright. Let's get started. We'll be splitting into pairs today to begin learning some of the most basic defensive maneuvers."

I was paired with a tall, muscular cadet, and I groaned audibly, knowing this wasn't going to end well. He laughed slightly and opened his mouth to say something just as the instructor began speaking. "First, we're going to practice using your opponent's momentum against them. If a Klingon is attacking you, he isn't going to try to slow down before slamming you into a wall. Use that to your advantage."

I squared off with my partner, and he began running at me after the instructor yelled, "Begin!"

I grabbed his shoulder with both hands, trying to push him slightly to the side while using his own momentum to move me in the other direction as we had been shown. Unfortunately, my movements were too slow, and I found myself smashed between his shoulder and the mats, pain lancing through my body and a cracking sound audible as we landed.

"Stop! Stop!" I could faintly hear the instructor yelling as I struggled to breathe. "Who was it?"

The cadet had already rolled off of me, and I could hear him panicking. "I didn't mean to, sir! Cadet Greaves-"

"Of course it's Cadet Greaves." I could feel the mat shifting slightly under me, and I could faintly see his mouth moving as he hovered over me, but the darkness seeping into the edges of my vision was quickly taking over. I only just realized I wasn't able to hear anything he was saying as the darkness took over.

* * *

White filled my vision when I cracked open one of my eyes, and I immediately squeezed my eye shut again. I could faintly hear people talking, and the beeping of a nearby machine. My chest felt as though an elephant had stepped on it, and I groaned, wondering which bone I had managed to break this time.

"Perfect timing!" a feminine voice hit my ears and I slowly began opening my eyes once more. "Your doctor is just about finished with his shift, but he might be able to discharge you before he leaves now that you're awake! I will go get him so that he can answer any of your questions." With that, the overly cheerful nurse hurried off.

 _Shouldn't you ask the patient if they need anything before you go running off to find a doctor?_ I scrunched my eyebrows at her quick dismissal of me, and struggled to push myself up into a seated position. The initial pain that had lanced through my chest was quickly receding, and I realized they must have already used a regenerator on whatever bone had been broken.

Just as I finally pushed myself to the back of the bed, and was somewhat comfortably leaning on the pillows, the door to my room opened. I glanced up to see my doctor reading his P.A.D.D., probably looking through my files.

"Alright, Miss Greaves, it looks as though the regeneration of your rib was successful, and I can't see any problems with it. You can go ahead and get dressed. Once you are ready you are free to sign out," he continued, finally looking up from the P.A.D.D.

"It's you!" I exclaimed, recognizing him now that he had finally looked up at me.

"We never did introduce ourselves that day," he chuckled. "My name is Leonard McCoy. I didn't really believe you when you said that you would see me soon."

"Well. I did try to warn you that I am very clumsy."

"So I see. They told me it was an accident in your self defense class when they brought you in." He started turning off the computers and systems attached to my Biobed and I struggled to swing my legs over the other side. "Take it easy!" he yelled gruffly, hand clasping onto my shoulder. "Even though your rib has healed, you're going to be sore for a couple of days. Don't push yourself. And just sit in on your self defense class, okay?" He helped me turn in the bed, his hand gently holding onto my elbow as he helped me stand up out of the bed. "Take your time. I don't want to see you back here too soon, alright?"

His grumbling made me grin, and I just nodded before he rushed out of the room. I slowly yanked on my uniform that had been left in the corner of the room before signing myself out of the Medbay.

* * *

Over the rest of the week, I was allowed to simply watch the self defense classes as they were taught, and I caught myself analyzing how each move worked. By the next week, I was no longer sore from my former broken rib, and I was required to participate in class once more. On my return session, the instructor decided to do it as a review, and had everyone pair off to hone the skills they had already studied. He chose the best in the class, a young Asian cadet named Sulu, to work with me in an obvious effort to tutor me.

"Hi, I'm Roxy," I murmured, reaching my hand out in greeting.

"Hikaru," he returned, shaking my hand gently. "I don't intend on having any repeats of what happened in your last class, so let's take this slowly, okay? We'll start doing each move in a much slower pace and work up to an actual combat-like speed."

I sighed gratefully. "That sounds wonderful."

For the rest of the hour, we did just that. He slowly rushed at me, and made sure my grip was correct, never having me fully fend him off until I had done the first steps of the move perfectly. By the end of the class, I had already become successful with half of the techniques they had learned while I was not participating in the class.

"Roxy, you're not actually that bad. A general suggestion though? Keep your feet a little wider apart. You have them too close together to be able to pivot fast enough to defend yourself from opponents if they were actually determined to harm you," he suggested kindly, a smile on his face.

"Thank you so much for all the help, Hikaru! I doubt I would have made it through this uninjured if you weren't my partner," I gushed, belatedly realizing I might have overdone my gratitude.

"It's not a problem. Do you want to meet up outside of class to catch up on the rest of the techniques? I doubt Commander Wesson will let you have another session to catch up during class time."

A few strands of hair had escaped my braid, and I pushed them out of my face as I responded, "That sounds wonderful, actually. Are you sure you will have the time though? I don't want your studies to falter because you're trying to help me."

"Absolutely. It helps me relieve stress, so if anything, you'll be helping me in my classes." His grin was infectious, and I quickly realized that maybe, just maybe, I had made a new friend.


End file.
